Folding chair



A. A. MADSEN Oct. 23, 1951 FOLDING CHAIR Filed Jan. 16, 1946 i N VENTOE AKSEL AABYL MADsEN Patented Oct. 23, 1951 FOLDING CHAIR Aksel Aabye Madsen, Ejby, Denmark Application January 16, 1946, Serial No. 641,492 In Denmark March 2, 1942 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires March 2, 1962 4 Claims.

This invention relates to collapsible or folding chairs having a rigid seat. I

Folding chairs are already known in which the two front legs are interconnected and prolonged into the back of the chair, these front legs being rotatably connected to two rear legs which cross the front legs and are also interconnected. In this known construction the rear legs support at their tops the front part of the seat of the chair which, at the rear, is supported by the front legs by means of pivots or similar members.

In certain chairs of this well-known type the connection between the lower part of the back and the rear edge of the seat is a firm hinge connection, which the connection between the rear leg frame and the front edge of the seat is a slit hinge connection. This allows simultaneous turning and sliding between pairs of legs and the seat in the longitudinal axis of the latter. The pivots in the leg frame act jointly with slits or similar devices arranged at the seat along its longitudinal axis so that, upon folding the pairs of legs, the seat will occupy a position along the common plane of the folding pairs of legs. In this way the folded chair will take up comparatively little space.

In these well-known chair constructions the seat, upon the folding up of the chair, strikes against the chair back so that the panels on the back will ordinarily prevent the seat from folding completely into the frame formed by the back and side legs unless the side stringers of the frame are abnormally thick or unless the transverse panels of the back are positioned at such a height as to afford space underneath for the folded seat. Consequently the folded chair will occupy a comparatively large space, and will be unhandy when a number of chairs are arranged in a pile, as the seat which protrudes to a greater or less extent from the chair frames will get in the way.

In accordance with my invention as herein described, the slit hinge connection is arranged as a connection between the seat and the front leg frame, so that the rear part of the seat, when the chair is folded, will slide downwardly and inwardly against the front leg frame.

By the form of construction that I utilize, wherein the rear leg frame and the seat are mounted inside of the front leg frame and are inclosed in the space between the front plane l of the front leg frame and its rear plane, there is provided a U-shaped mounting which may be fastened to the inner side of the front legs. The rear legs are pivotally fastened to this U-shaped mounting. When the chair is folded the side 2 stringers for the seat will drop into this U-shaped mounting. In this way the side stringers of the two leg frames and the stringers for the seat will lie next to each other, side by side, when the chair is folded up.

An example of a chair according to the invention is illustrated on the drawing, where:

Figure 1 shows a chair in front view in unfolded state,

Figure 2, same in side view,

Figure 3, same in side view, but in folded state,

Figure 4, top view of the chair shown in Figures l and 2,

Figure 5, longitudinal section through same, in fragment, and

Figure 6, a detail of the chair shown in section and larger scale.

indicates the front-legs of the chair, at its top connected by a support for the back 4, and at its bottom by a traverse 5, while 2 indicates the rear-legs arranged at a point within the front-legs, the rear-legs being connected at top and bottom by traverses 6. The frame formed by the rear-legs is pivotally connected to the frame formed by the front-legs by means of mounting 'l. v

The seat 3 of the chair has on its underside two side stringers i!) which at their front parts, by means of pivots II, are fastened to revolve with the upper ends of rear-legs 2, the side stringers having on their outer side slots 9 into which engage round pivots 8 fastened on the inner sides of front-legs I. When the chair is unfolded, the pivot 3 abuts the rear end of slot -9 and thus prevents the legs from sliding further. When the chair is folded, as in Fig. 3, the slot 9 slides along the pivot 8, the seat simultaneously tip-ping more and more backwards, until it finally, together with rear-legs 2, folds into the space formed by the frame of the front-legs. In this way, the side stringers l0, Figure 6, will be embedded in the U-shaped mounting I which is rigidly fastened to the front-legs l and fastened to revolve with respect to the rear-legs 2 by means of a bolt not shown.

As illustrated on the drawing, the rear-legs 2 may be bent at an angle, in order to fit in the best possible manner into the space at disposal between the front-legs.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A folding chair of the type having a rigid seat whose rear end slides downwardly when said chair is folded up, which comprises, in combination, a pair of front legs, said legs extending upwardly to form a back for said chair, a pair of rear legs, said rear legs crossing said front legs and being pivotally connected thereto, a rigid seat, a pair of side stringers having slotted grooves in the sides secured to the underside of said rigid seat at each side thereof, said side stringers being pivotally connected at their front ends to said rear legs, said side stringers being also pivotally connected at their rear ends to the upper part of said front legs, said last-named pivotal connection, between said side stringers and said front legs, including a pivot on the inner side of each of said front legs cooperating with said slotted grooves formed in the sides of said side stringers, said front legs and said rear legs being positioned at such a distance from each other that when said chair is being folded up, said side stringers at each side of said rigid seat will take up a position in the space between said front legs and said rear legs along the respective sides of said chair, said side stringers, when said chair is folded up and the rear end of said rigid seat slides downwardly, extending beyond said pivotal connection between said from; and rear legs, said pivotal connection permitting said side stringers to enter the space between said front legs and said rear legs so that said side stringers and folded legs lie substantially in a single plane when said chair is folded up, a U-shaped moutnting member secured to said front legs and said rear legs of each pair, said U-shaped mounting member being pivotally secured to said front leg so as to provide a pivotal connection between said front and rear legs of each pair, the opening in said U-shaped mounting member being adapted to receive a side stringer of said seat when said chair is folded up with said stringers and said folded legs lying substantially in a single plane.

2. A folding chair as defined in claim 1, wherein said side stringers are U-shaped in cross-section having grooves formed therein which face the inner sides of the adjacent portions of said front legs, said grooves cooperating with said pivotal connection between said side stringers and said front legs.

3. A folding chair as defined in claim 2, wherein said rear legs mounted inside of said front legs are pivotally connected to said side stringers.

4: A folding chair of the type having a rigid seat whose rear end slides downwardly when said chair is folded up, which comprises, in combination: a pair of front legs extending upwardly to form a. back, a back support connecting said front legs at the top thereof, a cross member connecting said front legs at the lower portions thereof, a pair of rearlegs, said rear legs crossing said front legs and being pivotally connected thereto, a rigid seat, a pair of side stringers having slotted grooves in the sides thereof secured to the underside of said rigid seat at each side thereof, said side stringers being pivotally connected at their front ends to said rear legs at the outward sides of said rear legs, said side stringers being also pivotally connected at their rear ends to the upper part of said front legs at the inward sides of said front legs, said last-named pivotal connection, between said side stringers and said front legs, including a pivot on the inner side of each of said front legs cooperating with said slotted grooves formed in the sides of said side stringers, said pivotal connections between said front and rear legs also including a pair of U- shaped mountings, each mounting being fixedly secured to one leg of said pair of front legs by means of a connection member from which said pivot cooperating with said slotted groove extends, each mounting being further pivotally connected to one leg of said pair of rear legs, said pair of side stringers being seated within the U of said U-shaped mountings when said chair is folded up, said front legs and said rear legs being positioned at such a distance from each other that when said chair is being folded up, said side stringers at each side of said rigid seat will take up a position in the space between saidfront legs and said rear legsalong the respective sides of said chair, said side stringers, when said chair is folded up and the rear end of said rig-id seat slides downwardly, extending beyond said pivotal connection between said front andrear legs, said pivotal connection permitting said side stringers to enter the space between said front legs and said rear legs, within the U formed by said U- shaped mountings, so that said side stringers and folded legs lie substantially in a single plane when said chair is folded up.

AKSEL AABYE MADSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 327,901 Shelley Oct. 6, 1885 714,562 Crandall Nov. 25, 1902 1,571,538 Cable Feb. 2', 1926 1,740,806 Clarin Dec. 24,- 1929 2,016,385 Molling Oct. 8, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,407 Sweden Aug. 28, 1908 61,772 Denmark Jan. 3, 1944 691,888 France July .22, 1930 

